Speech Debelle wins Mercury Music Prize

London rapper Speech Debelle, a.k.a. Corynne Eliot, has won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. Her debut record, Speech Therapy, was universally regarded as having only the slimmest outside chance of scooping the prize of £20,000 (and guaranteed album sales).

There were quite a few female-led acts on the shortlist this year, all of them more commercially successful than Eliot: electro-pop duo La Roux, Bat for Lashes and the suddenly ubiquitous Florence & The Machine, as well as Ireland's own Lisa Hannigan. Friendly Fires, Kasabian, The Horrors and Glasvegas were also on the shortlist.

Speech Debelle plays The Stiff Kitten, Belfast on Friday, October 2 and Academy 2, Dublin on Saturday, October 3. Tickets are £7.50 and €13.60, respectively, from Ticketmaster.